The Cribs, alternative rock trio hailing from Yorkshire, are making their come back to Hong Kong on 15th May. This is the third time for them to perform here though all 3 times are in different settings – 2011 at Clockenflap Festival, 2013 at KITEC medium size venue, and this time at TTN with a more DIY industrial backdrop. The trio, formed by twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and younger brother Ross Jarman, never fail to surprise you with their DIY aesthetic and astonishing catchy tunes. With 7 albums in their catalogue, and this night, you can hear all of their anthems that sharps who “The Cribs” are nowadays.

The 90-minute show is held under dim environment with major light comes from the LED screen behind, which with the classic The Cribs stripes and logos displayed. This night kicks off with the “Our Bovine Public,” opening track of their from many fans’s favorite album ‘Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever’ (2007), “Come On, Be a No-One’ off ‘In The Belly Of Brazen Bull’ and MNWNW album’s “I’m a Realist.” These catchy indie rock tunes make you dance along effortlessly with many people in the crowd singalong loudly and proudly. The Cribs’ lyrics always describe daily life experiences in interesting play of words. The audience sing like these were part of their stories, too.

The stage is kept dark as the set goes on when the band continue to play a series of energy-filled hits that both diehard followers and newer fans are thrilled to hear. You can hear their musical changes all over the years at this night, from the unpolished stage of ‘The New Fallas,’ to the smoother sound of ‘Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever’ and gradually move back to their roots in their latest release ‘24-7 Rock Star Shit,’ one thing about The Cribs do not change throughout the years is their deeply genuine passion and incredibly smart compositional skills that make you want to hear more from them.

值得一提的是作品 Shoot the Poet 帶來The Cribs 柔情的一面，低調的不插電結他加上緩緩的鼓聲，有些觀眾將手機電筒打開，跟着拍子搖動。樂隊之後邀請了來自香港的夢幻流行音樂組Thud成員Kim接管鍵盤部分，為Back for The Bolthole作伴奏。

“Shoot the Poets” brings out the soft side of The Cribs with strip down acoustic guitar and slow drumbeats. Some audience raise their cellphones up with light and wave along to this slow jam. The band also invite Kim, from Hong Kong’s very own dream pop group Thud, to take over the keyboard for “Back For The Bolthole.”

Like their usual performance, The Cribs display video of Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) reading the line of the dialogue when playing their critically acclaimed “Be Safe.” The song somewhat sway between the beautiful indie melody and some thought-provoking spoken words and have become one of the band’s most well-known work.

The trio choose to end their their third visit to Hong Kong with older break-through song “Hey Scenesters!,” “Men’s Needs” and “Pink Snow,” taken from their album ‘For All My Sisters.’ The 7-minute long tune has an extended instrumental part with noise and lofi effect. As the band once explained in an interview, this album’s name was indeed taken from this song, which metaphorically and musically leave any open end for your own interpretation. In that case, there seems to be no better choice than this to end the show.